JPS6378280A - Image processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make image processing of both binary image data and multivalued image data possible by providing a binary/multivalued converting means that converts the binary image data to the multivalued image data. CONSTITUTION:A binary/multivalued converting means has functions for converting image data from binary to multivalue, and from multivalue to binary. Data of a multivalued BUF 56 is read out, and corresponding density pattern is transferred from a binarized pattern ROM 57 to a binary BUF 58 corresponding to one picture element. In the case where the binary image data is data in which halftone expression is expressed by density pattern, data is read out from a BUF 58, and the multivalued data is read out from a pattern ROM 59 converted to multivalues and transferred to the BUF 56. Thereby, multivalued SW 8-1, 8-2... can synthesize and edit binary and multivalued image data as the same image data, and can transfer the result to a multivalued PR 10 and a binary PR 4.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image processing system in which image information (for example, text recorded and printed on paper, etc.) is input in pixel units and is processed by converting it into digital signals. In particular, the present invention relates to an image processing system capable of processing one pixel of image information using a binary digital signal and a multi-value digital signal.

[Prior art]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, image processing systems that read image information such as line drawings or documents pixel by pixel using photoelectric conversion elements or the like and convert the converted binary digital signals into binary digital signals for editing, display, storage, etc. are generally known. In addition, in order to process image information with halftone expressions such as photographs, and to perform image processing such as gradation conversion, edge enhancement, and cropping of objects, image information is converted into multivalued digital signals. Image processing systems that process images have been developed in recent years.

[Problem that the invention is trying to solve] However,
In an image processing system that performs image processing using a signal obtained by converting image information into a binary digital signal (hereinafter referred to as binary image data), a signal obtained by converting image information into a multi-value digital signal (hereinafter referred to as multi-value image data) is used. There is no system that can perform image processing using multivalued image data (also called a value image data), and even among image processing systems that perform image processing using multivalued image data, there is no system that can perform image processing using binary image data, which lacks versatility. .For that reason,
There has been a desire for a highly versatile image processing system that can perform image processing such as text editing and printing by integrating binary image data and multivalued image data.

[Means and effects for solving the problems] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is a binary image in which one pixel of image information is processed as a binary digital signal (referred to as binary image data). a processing means, a multi-value image processing means for image processing one pixel of image information as a multi-value digital signal (referred to as multi-value image data), and a binary/multi-value image processing means for converting binary image data into multi-value image data. It is composed of a value conversion means and a multivalue/binary conversion means for converting multivalue image data into binary image data, and the binary image processing means and the multivalue image processing means can exchange data with each other,
To provide a highly versatile image processing system that is capable of image processing of either binary image data or multivalued image data, or image data that is a superimposition of binary image data and multivalued image data. be.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image processing system to which the present invention is applied.

In FIG. 1, 1-1. 1-2. ..., 2-
1°2-2 is a binary image processing work station (hereinafter referred to as binary WS) that can edit and display binary image data; 3-1.3-2. ... is an image league (hereinafter referred to as binary RD) that binarizes and reads image information, and 4-1, 4-2..., is an image league that prints the binarized image data. It is a printer (hereinafter referred to as binary PR). Binary WS2-1. 2-2
．． ... are respectively binary RD3-1°3-2.・・・
- and binary PRs 4-1 and 4-2 are connected, and via a network (hereinafter referred to as LAN) 12, a league printer system (hereinafter referred to as 2 (referred to as value RD/binary PR system) 5-1.5-2°... and binary image.
It is possible to send and receive data.

In the above configuration, binary WSI-1, 1-2..., are LAN
12 through binary RD/binary PR system 5-1.5-
Receives binary image data from either 2°... and displays editing operations such as cutting the binary image data, enlarging or reducing the cut portion, rotating it, moving it, and compositing them. The finally obtained binary image data is sent to the binary RD/binary PR system 5-1.5-2 via the LAN 12. The binary image data can be transferred to either an external storage device of binary WS or a storage device file server (hereinafter referred to as FS) 6 connected via LAN 12. -1.6-2 can also be stored. Also, binary WS2-1. 2-2.
... can send and receive binary image data with the binary RD/binary PR system on the network, as well as directly connected binary RD3-1.3-2. It is also possible to read binary image data from ..., binary PR4-1
, 4-2°, etc. can also be used to print binary image data.

Furthermore, 7-1.7-2. ..., 8-1.8-2.
... is a multi-value image processing work station (hereinafter referred to as multi-value WS) that can edit and display multi-value image data, and 9-1.9-2. ... is an image league (hereinafter referred to as multi-value RD) that converts and reads image information into multiple values.
), and 10-1. 10-2. ... is an image printer that can print multi-valued image data by reproducing halftones (hereinafter referred to as multi-value PR)
It is.

Multivalued WS7-1. '7-2. ...8-1.8-
2. -Fist can receive multi-value image data from either multi-value RD, edit and display it, and transfer the multi-value image data to one of multi-value PR and print it, similar to binary ~ vsS. It can also be stored in either FS6-1.6-2. Editing of the multivalued image data can include cutting, enlarging or reducing the cut portion, rotating it, moving it, and compositing them, as well as gradation conversion, edge emphasis, etc.

Figure 2 shows binary WSI-1, 1-2,...-, 2-1°2
-2. ... is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of.

The basic components include an input keyboard 13, a pointing device 14, and a keyboard interface K.
BD-1/F15, cpu22, MMU (M e
m o r y.

M a n a g e m e n t U n
program memory 23 including read disk drive, floppy disk drive interface FD/HD-I/F 24, disk drive (hereinafter referred to as HD) 25, floppy disk drive (hereinafter referred to as FD) ) 26, CRT display 16, video RAM for it (hereinafter referred to as binary V
RAM). 18 is a bit manipulation unit (hereinafter referred to as BMU), and the program memory PMEM23.2 value V RAM 17,
A large amount of data in word units and bit units can be transferred at high speed between input/output devices and the like without going through the CPU 22. The BMU 18 also has a logical operation function, a rotation function, and a scaling function for transfer source data and transfer destination data. As for the scaling function, it is possible to differentiate between binary image data such as line drawings and multi-valued image data such as photographs, and to vary the scale. Furthermore, a companding circuit (
(hereinafter referred to as MMR) 19. Has an interface LAN-I/F 20 that connects a binary WS and LAN, and an optical disk (hereinafter referred to as OD) 29 when a large capacity file is required, and an interface 0D-I/F for that purpose. F2
8 may or may not be present.

It also has an interface binary Lc-1/F27 for directly connecting either or both of the binary RD and the binary PR. The internal structure of the LC-I/F27 is well known and will be omitted here, but it has a buffer for storing binary image data, and also has a function to transfer read data from the binary RD3 directly to the binary PR4 to achieve local copy. There is.

Binary WSI-1, 1-2, ... receives binary image data via LAN12 by LAN-1/F20, decompresses it by MMR19, and converts it into a binary buffer of PMEM23 or binary LC-1/F27. That image/
Transfer data. By editing this using the functions of the BMU 18 and transferring it to the binary VRAM 17, the CRT
16 can be displayed. Also, the edited binary image data can be converted to HD25. The data can be stored in the FD26 and 0D29, and can also be transferred to the binary PR5-1, 5-2 or FS6-1 to 6-2 shown in FIG. 1 via the LAN12. Multi-value/binary CV21 has the function of converting multi-value image data into binary image data,
Multi-level image data transferred via LAN12 is
It is converted into value image data and stored in a binary buffer (BUF). Its internal configuration is as shown in FIG.
Transfer to 4.

As a result, binary WSI-1, 1-2, ..., 2-2.
... can combine and edit binary image data and multivalued image data as the same binary image data, and can transfer the result to the binary PR4.

3 and 4 respectively show binary RD/binary PR system 5-1.5-2. ..., FS6-1.6-2.
. . . (the same configuration as in FIG. 2 is indicated by the same number). With this configuration, the binary RD/binary PR system 5-1.5-2°... reads the image information and outputs it as binary image data.
Binary image data can be sent to the AN 12 or received from the LAN 12 and printed, or can be locally copied. Also, FS6-1.6-2°... performs normal file management, and HD25. FD26゜0
The D29 has a function of storing binary and multivalued image data.

Figures 5 and 6 (the same configurations as in Figure 2 are indicated with the same numbers) are multivalued WS7-1゜7-2, respectively.
．． ..., 8-1.8-2. ...Multi-value RD/Multi-1
Direct PR system I 1-1, 11-2, ・-
is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of binary WS, binary R
The difference from the D/binary PR system lies in the video RAM 32 and multi-value LC-I/F 34. A multi-value LC-I/F 34 is required to connect the multi-value RD 9 and the multi-value PRIO, and a multi-value VRAM 32 is required to display the multi-value image data.

The multi-value LC-I/F 34 has a configuration as shown in FIG. 7, and the multi-value RD 9 controlled by the controller 37 reads image information to the multi-value BUF 39 via the thinning circuit 45, and converts it into line drawings as necessary. - It has a function to separate image areas into binary image data such as characters and multi-valued image data with halftones such as photographs. This image area separation information is transmitted to the image area separation circuit 46.
line drawings, characters, etc. are binarized by the binarization circuit 42 and sent to the binary BUF 38.
is read into. The multi-value image data of the multi-value BUF 39 can also be transferred to the multi-value PRIO and printed.

Furthermore, the binary image data of the binary BUF 38 is multi-valued by the multi-value converting circuit 41, and can be superimposed with the multi-value image data from the multi-value BUF 39 via the superimposing circuit 43 and transferred to the multi-value PR. The multivalue VRAM 32 has a configuration as shown in FIG. 8, and stores multivalue image data in the multivalue BUF5.
3 and display it on the CRT 16. Also, 2
It is also possible to store the value image data in the binary BUF 52 and display it by superimposing it on the multi-value image data via the superimposition circuit 51.

The binary/multi-value CV 33 has a function of converting image data from binary to multi-value and from multi-value to binary, and its internal configuration is as shown in FIG. 11. The corresponding density pattern for each pixel is transferred from the binary pattern ROM 57 to the binary BUF 58.

In addition, when the binary image data is data in which halftone expression is expressed by a density pattern, the data is read out from the binary BUF 58 and the multivalued data expressing the corresponding gradation of one pixel is read out from the multivalued pattern ROM 59 and multivalued. valueBUF
Transfer to 56.

As a result, multivalued WS3-1.8-2. ...is 2
Valued image data and multivalued image data can be combined and edited as the same image data, and the result can be transferred to multivalued PRIO or binary PR4.

With such a configuration, the multivalued WS has two values for the multivalued image.
It can realize the same function as value WS, and can include and process binary images if necessary.

In order to distinguish between binary image data and multi-valued image data as described above, and to identify transfer between various devices,
The data format on the LAN 12 can be realized as shown in FIG. Here, 47 and 48 are identification numbers indicating the transmitting side and the receiving side, respectively, and are added from the transmitting side. In addition, 49 is an identification number indicating the content of the data, and is a binary W connected to a binary RD.
In the S or binary RD/binary PR system, a number indicating a binary image is added, and a multilevel WS to which a multilevel RD is connected.
Alternatively, in a multi-value RD/multi-value PR system, a number indicating a multi-value image is added. Then, according to the data 1D49, a binary image or a multivalued image is stored in 50.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment is shown in Fig. 12 (1) and (2).
This will be explained according to the document editing flow shown in .

First, in step S1, a binary image from a binary RD, a multivalued image from a multivalued RD, a text 1 figure 2 table stored in the HD, a graph, a binary image, a multivalued image, an integrated document of these, or a blank sheet is selected and displayed. Next, in step S2, the process branches to the following process depending on the type of these displayed documents and the specified command. The processing includes print processing S4. Text input editing S6. Figure editing S8. Table editing S10. Graph creation S12. Binary image editing S15. Multi-value image editing S16. Data extraction S22. There is a data synthesis S24.

Furthermore, when binary/multi-value conversion is specified for a binary image, the binary image is converted into a multi-value image in step S16, the binary image is converted into a multi-value image in step S16, and the multi-value conversion is performed in step S19. Move to image editing.

Further, when multi-value/binary conversion is specified for a multi-value image, the multi-value image is converted into a binary image in step S20, and the process proceeds to binary image editing in Stella S15.

Binary image editing allows you to cut out figures, characters, etc., enlarge/reduce the cut parts, rotate them, move them, and combine them. In addition to these functions, multi-level image editing also allows for gradation conversion, edge enhancement, object cropping, etc.

When the document editing is completed in step S25, the document is written out in step 326, and the document is printed out, displayed, and saved to a node disk, etc., and the flow ends.

In the image processing system configured as described above, the multivalued WS7-1.7-2. ..., 8-1.8-2
In . . . , a document as shown in FIG. 13 can be displayed and edited. Here, 57 is an integrated document, with text 582, graphics 59. It includes a graph 601, a table 63, a multivalued image 612 such as a photograph, and a binary image 62 such as a figure. 64 is a display area for instructing different editing commands depending on the editing state. Here, sentence 582 figure 5
9. The graph 609 and the table 63 are bit-expanded from the code data to the binary BUF 52 in FIG. 8, and the binary image 62 is thinned out and transferred to the same binary BUF 52 by the scaling function of the BMU 18 in FIG. There is. Further, the multivalued image 61 is transferred to the multivalued BUF 53 in FIG. 8 by the function of the BMU 18, and is superimposed from these and displayed on the CRT 16 in FIG.

In the above embodiment, an image processing system connected via a network is used, but the system is not limited to this, and a part of the system may be changed (or a part may be changed).
, it goes without saying that it is also possible to implement the present invention within one device.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Since the image processing system of the present invention is configured as described above, it is possible to provide a highly versatile image processing system capable of image processing using binary image data, multivalued image data, and their superimposed image data.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a block diagram of an image processing system to which the present invention is applied. Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of a binary WS. Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of a binary RD/binary PR system. , Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the FS, Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the multi-value WS, and Fig. 6 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the multi-value RD.
/Block diagram showing the internal configuration of the multi-level PR system; Figure 7 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the multi-level LC-1/F; Figure 8 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the multi-level VRAM; is a diagram showing the data format including binary image data and multi-value image data on the network, Figure 1O is an internal configuration diagram of the multi-value/binary conversion circuit, and Figure 11 is the internal diagram of the binary/multi-value conversion circuit. FIG. 12 is a schematic flowchart of integrated document editing, and FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of displaying the integrated document. 1-1.1-2. ..., 2-1.2-2... Binary image processing workstation (binary WS) 3-1.3-2. ...binary image reader (binary R
D) 4-1.4-2. ...Binary reader printer (2
Value PR) 5-1.5-2. ...Binary RD/Binary PR system 6-1.6-2. ...File save (FS)
7-1.7-2. ..., 8-1.8-2...Multi-value image processing workstation (multi-value W S ) 9-1.9-2.・・・Multi-value image reader (multi-value R
D) 10-1. 10-2. ...Multi-value reader printer (multi-value PR)

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) Binary image processing means that processes one pixel of image information as a binary digital signal (referred to as binary image data), and a binary image processing means that processes one pixel of image information as a multi-value digital signal (referred to as multi-value image data) a multi-value image processing means for processing an image as an image; a binary/multi-value conversion means for converting binary image data into multi-value image data; and a multi-value/binary conversion means for converting multi-value image data into binary image data. An image processing system comprising means, wherein the binary image processing means and the multivalued image processing means can exchange data with each other, and are capable of image processing of either binary image data or multivalued image data. .